A new poll published by The Mail on Sunday found falling support for the war in Iraq with four out of 10 people now believing Britain was right to invade Iraq, compared with six out of 10 in April last year.

In addition, the poll indicated that Tony Blair's Labour party could only win an overall majority at the next election if the British PM made way for Chancellor Gordon Brown as party leader.

The YouGov poll found that Labour would win the election but fall short of a Commons majority with Blair in charge.

If there was an election tomorrow, with Blair as Prime Minister, 40% of people said they would vote Conservative and 36% Labour.

However, with Brown as leader the two parties would be level on 39%.

This latest poll comes as the British government confirmed it received allegations of Iraqi prisoner abuse by British troops at least two months before the scandal hit headlines. (Albawaba.com)